Percentages - Crawlers Part 8
by Awatere11
Summary: The team prepare for the scan that will tell them if the baby is viable or not, the trip into town and the world of Crawlers worth the risk for them and their conversations tell us everyone is starting to move to the same beat, hopefully Gwen can find it as well, assimilate and settle into hormonious rhythm before Suzie gets to digging that hole. ALT VERSE xxx
1. Chapter 1

1

Owen turned to find Jack standing there, his face showing his annoyance as he looked around the room and then settled against the table, "Nice. Suzie must be pissed."

"I know, she was just getting comfortable in here and now I need it for a medical bay" Owen snorted.

Jack settled more and sighed, "Ianto is right, we need to go for those RVs."

"I need this space if we are going to have this baby" Owen nodded as he moved things about, "I need what is in that doctor's clinic in town too … I need all I can get to give that little one a chance."

"Could it be OK?" Jack pondered, "I mean… if the air has cleaned itself, osmosis working for us kinda thing, the planet breathes it all out into the black and we are renewed kinda shit. Do you think it's true? If someone were to step from a protective bubble with their appendix they would be OK?"

"Maybe" Owen paused a she stared into space, "I am like….ah… 70% on that one."

"So the baby might be OK"

"I am also thirty percent against. Mind, that's not the percentage we need to worry about" Owen turned to face him, "She was infected. Did it mutate? The real percentages deal with that. Until she lets me scan her properly I can't say. Depends on how advanced the lungs are? Or the blood? Was it infected but her body is cleansing it like a dialysis machine? Would it be born OK anyway? Questions I can't answer…percentages I can't give mate."

"I know" Jack sighed "I know it drives you crazy too."

"All I do know for sure is that she is preggers. If we want a healthy baby we either operate in-utero or at birth, but then the question is…what if it mutates while still inside her?"

Jack paled as he stared at Owen, "Fuck"

"Yeah. Like one of Ripley's little chest bursters coming out teeth and all" Owen shivered, "Ya see, this is the shit I drive myself mad with."

"How many scans did she do before the battery went dead?" Jack asked.

"Four. Tosh and I are triangulating them to see if we can get a flow chart … a graph from the data. If I can get clear growth markers I can determine if it is growing at a normal rate. Since those Crawlers don't seem to breathe or have a heartbeat it is logical to assume an infected baby would not age, right?"

"Would not grow" Jack nodded as he caught on and Owen rubbed at his face with fatigue.

If there is still growth, it is logical therefore to assume the baby is not infected" Owen surmised, "We can hope."

Jack left Owen still fiddling and found himself watching Mica and Ianto as they worked in the garden, Ianto weeding as Mica plucked fat snails from the cabbages and then ran with each one pinched between her fingers with a look of glee to fling it into the chicken coop where all hell would break loose as they fought over it.

Cruel little bugger having so much fun at the expense of snails.

Ianto was humming as he filled the large bucket with weeds, those too getting flicked over the fence to the chickens every now and then and their delight in scratching through it for any bugs or edible greens made them look like ladies at one of those Black Friday Sales fighting over handbags with their feet kicking as they squabbled and picked.

Then she saw him, her little face lighting up as he abandoned her quest then ran to him with her arms outstretched and he knew as he scooped her up that he had to help Gwen, if only for the baby. They had to do something here, this was ridiculous. Ianto was right, there was a doctor's clinic that would likely have an ultra sound machine as well as multivitamins and such. Suzie needed her own space, the room now Gwen's medical centre and if she crowed about it Suzie would be sure to bloody shoot her this time.

Jack sighed, burying his face in Mica's hair and she hugged his head affectionately, "Come on Uncle. Let's go snuffle and I will tell you a story."

Sounded like a great idea and he rose, lifting her to his hip and heading indoors for their bedroom.

Ianto watched them go and wondered what was worrying him so, hoping when he was ready he would share.

Seems like a man with many secrets, too may lies and not enough truths.

Ianto hopes one day Jack can let go of his losses too.


	2. Chapter 2

2

"Can't we just shoot her and say it was a Crawler?" Suzie asked, Jack looking up from the list he was making and he sighed.

"We have the baby to consider now" he reminded her and she slumped.

"As she will remind us each time she's called out for being a bitch." Suzie snorted, "Then … we wait until the thing is here, let her …ah….wander one night? A gate left open? I know Ianto would breast feed the thing if he could, already fussing about baby stuff."

"Jealous?" Jack asked softly trying to hold back a snarl at the tone she was using to speak about his new lover.

"No … I … she's nothing special."

"I mean of Ianto" Jack looked up, "That caustic remark was against him or did you not hear yourself."

"It's just…. He's such a goodie two shoes" she grimaced "Probably saves spiders he finds in the house and rushes them outside in his cupped hand to release into a bush or something. Went on bush walks and took photos of birds for the register."

"Yes, I've watched him do it" Jack sighed, "He does save spiders. Says killing them is bad luck and although he would gladly take the baby as his own that is no excuse to get her eaten."

Suzie considered, "That was caustic wasn't it. I do like him, honest. He's just so …well, he's a…."

"B Clearance Operative" Jack said as he went back to his list, "Ianto had a Kill Order Clearance ya know. Higher than you. He was an active member of one of the Seek and Destroy Squads sent into the wilds to hunt down errant aliens rampaging about in the country. Did his knee in the mountains. Why he limps when tired."

"What?"

"He's a killer. I remember his file now, asked about him after I saw Yvonne step back from him in her office and realised he had something over her. He could kill Gwen himself and not blink. Killed his own girlfriend right over there." Jack pointed to the stairs, "Did you not see that he could kill you without you even knowing you were a target? He shoots like a pro, could have got a gold at Olympics if he hadn't refused the offer to represent. I also remember another small fact that interests me immensely. You have no idea the weapons he possesses."

Jack straightened and looked at her, "He is the one who warned me that you were planning something and exposed the support group you had set up."

"What?"

"They are all gone. Cleaned. Those people you brainwashed. Your father is long gone now too isn't he. Some comfort" Jack ticked something and turned a page, "Be clear in your intent, be true in your movement and be wary of those who move n the shadows. Ianto was one of Yvonne's assassins."

Suzie blinked as she gaped.

"So… that's why you trusted him so quickly" she considered, "Shit. So when he took off you were not worried about his safety so much as..."

"Well. I was scared he wasn't coming back" Jack nodded. "we need him more than he needs us."

"So, back to her then." Suzie swung back to her first annoyance, "I really can't just…. Smother her?"

"Sorry love, she has to stay"

"Botheration" Suzie huffed then canted her head, "You really put an end to my little group? They were harmless."

Jack looked at her with amusement, "You have no idea who I am, who I was and that is why I know you do not know that I see you more clearly than you ever will. Suzie, I do not know what you had planned, what it was that moves you but … Ianto did. Still, he told me to have faith in you. He cleaned up your mess, whatever it was and told me via our email conversations to forgive you and be impressed with your clever mind. To find him, a real person not just the person at the other end of the emails that sometimes had me roaring with mirth in my office. We don't talk about it, neither of us has openly said to one another that that we know who we are but we both know we are the same …. He matches me in a way I can't explain and like it or not she does the same for Rhys. I will tell you what … if she ever looks like turning then you get first dibs. How's that?"

"Will have to do I guess" she frowned.

Jack watched her leave and sat back in his chair as he considered the enigma he had found himself warming a bed with. He hadn't told Suzie, he had let her think she stood a chance but first sign of danger and it would be him that took Gwen out.

Ianto.

He was already circling.

His eyes slid to the corner and he grinned, "Did I say enough Crypto?"

The creature stepped from the shadows and grinned as he proved Jack's warning to beware of those in there.

Everyone was on edge.

Jack hoped things might settle.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Rhys was watching Owen as he sterilized some things in a large pot of boiling water and he glanced back at him as the large man settled at the table with his hands clasped together.

"Ya know what?" Owen said conversationally, "I had a feeling I would be treated like some sort of soothsayer or something."

"She's a good woman"

"Tell me something" Owen rook a seat "Tell me she was not always a twat. I mean … you're a good bloke, a nice man. Tell me what you saw in her."

Rhys blinked, "well … ah … it was at the local after the rugby one night. I was a bit sloshed and she turned from the bar with drinks and slammed into me. I went tight off on one, her standing there dripping with Brains and me bemoaning the waste of a bloody good beer…. She sort of blinked and then seized me in a kiss that was…. Yeah. I finally got to breathe and I looked at the mad mare and thought….she'll do me. She'll do me nicely."

Owen smiled "So she WAS always a mad thing."

"Well, to be honest, I'm a bloody nutta too" Rhys laughed, "Should see me watch the rugby while eating. More chip and dip on the TV screen than left on the table with me screaming. Rhys the Ranter she calls me."

"I had a fiancé once" Owen said as he fiddled with the tablecloth … how the hell does he keep them so white? … ah … right … "Katie. An alien killed her."

"Shit" Rhys grunted with shock.

"I still don't know what she saw in me" Owen leaned back in the chair and smiled, "Now the lovely Toshiko is giving me a go and I am pretty made up meself."

Rhys smiled as he looked out the window where Ianto and Mica were cuddling by the bird feeder, both entranced as a little robin appeared to sample what they had placed there.

"Look mate. All I can tell you is that we will do what we can" Owen promised him, "Ianto is certain that there is stuff in the town that will help her, some medical stuff as well as baby things. He is determined to get it. I know he doesn't seem to keen on her but Ianto is more…. Confused I think. I see that he's a good man, the clearance he had in Torchwood means he is well trained and efficient. If anyone can get what we need he can and he is willing to put his neck on the line to do it. Also … he talks like its Suzie who needs space but he really wants a large one for you. He knows Gwen might feel a bit victimised and wants her to have her own retreat."

Rhys looked out at the man now kissing the little girl with an adoring smile.

"I am trying to have faith that things will work out. This little haven can be hidden and stay where we are. Keep out the Crawlers, keep away the other humans now stalking around wanting whatever they can get. That man and his mutt, they are more effective now than a gun. He wants her here…just. Rein her in if ya can, calm her down. If this is just hormones then sooner or later she will even out. He is trying to be patient and it's only the fact that his sister was apparently totally insane with her two pregnancies that he is willing to wait it out but if she can't stop it he might make it a bloody cattle truck he brings back to stick her in."

To his surprise Rhys laughed, slapping the table then sobering up "But she will be fine right?"

"Look, if this thing was airborne like we are sure it was it will be gone by now, by the time the baby is born there will be not sign if it. Also … if she was infected before we removed the appendix, I would hope that as her body fixed itself it would fix the baby too. Until I can scan her to see that there is some growth we are working on assumptions."

"And if it's not grown since the last scan?" Rhys asked nervously.

"Then we know its not viable" Owen sighed hating this line of questioning, "If the baby is still the same size as it was in the last scan we hold our breath and wait for another scan, check again. If there is no difference then we might need a closer look."

"Because if its not grown it's not alive" Rhys said flatly.

"Maybe" Owen agreed gently, "But chances are … we will scan and find a heartbeat, growth and hope."

"Shit" Rhys huffed.

"It is almost done charging, tonight when Mica is upstairs with Crypto we will check. We will know" Owen said and Rhys rose to leave hesitating and turning back.

"Thanks for talking honestly to me" Rhys smiled, "Ianto said you would."

Owen watched him leave and turned to find Ianto looking directly at him over the little blonde head against his chest.

So he had known this talk was going to happen. Of course he did, why the little one was out there.

Clever bugger that one.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Toshiko was where Owen had thought she would be, sorting clothes in the laundry as she hummed to the song on the CD player sitting on the windowsill.

"Hey sweetie" Owen said as he entered and picked up some socks still hot from the sun and started paring them off as he watched her hands move.

"So, who so far?"

He smiled as he knew her question and he sighed, "Jack and Rhys so far. I don't think Suzie will … you know she likes hating someone. Gives her purpose."

"Ianto seems to be calmer, do you think the thought of a mission is what's doing it?" she asked as she flicked more socks his way.

"Partly. I think he likes to know he score, ya know? I think he knew there was something going on and needed to know what. Needed the facts so he could calculate and deal with it all" Owen said and she hummed.

"I agree. I watch the way Jack is with him, almost like a little boy wanting to play with another little boy. Not the man who is more of a father figure to me" Tosh smiled, "Ianto excites him. He is more than he seems, I think that excites Jack too. I think we are all pretty boring to Jack really but he loves us anyway, Ianto is like a slap in the face sorta wakeup exciting."

"Where as Gwen is the bucket of cold water" Owen snorted, then glanced around like she might be standing behind them, then whispered, "I think she would make a pass at me if she wasn't scared you were armed. Rhys right there. He's such a nice guy and he doesn't see that she is cutthroat and want to control everything. Suzie still wants to take her out for a long walk with no map back."

"She is still a danger, Suzie is right on that" Toshiko held up a little pair of long pants and smiled as she folded Mica's favourite gardening trousers, "if she had to sacrifice any one of us she would, without flinching. For all her bleeding heart, I feel there is some ice hidden deep down."

"Yeah, I kinda think the same" Owen stopped his folding and then turned and face her, "Tosh I know we are new, I mean …fumbling about a bit but you do know I would sacrifice anything for you, right?"

She smiled as she ducked her head, her hair swinging forward moments after he caught the blush of pleasure, "Thank you Owen … I … I've never had someone willing to do that for me. Well, apart from Jack of course."

"Of course" Owen snorted, "But he loves being the hero"

"More to being a Jack the lad than just flapping your coat about" she smiled as she stepped into his personal space, "A lot more. White coats are sexy too."

"Yeah?" Owen leered, then kissed her and held her tightly, their bodies fitting together. "I miss mine, me buttons will be all lonely back…"

"OWEN"

Owen drew back and glared at Toshiko then yelled through the open door "YES GWEN?"

"IS IT CHARGED?"

"NO!"

Silence.

"for the love of god … mate we should have let Suzie loose. I mean….Christ." He slumped against Toshiko who giggled as she hugged him and rocked them both gently. "I hope it's alive though. Even if it means keeping her around … I really hope it lives."

"Never mind, you can tell her it's got two heads or something for a few minutes darling … act like you can get the equipment to work" she crooned and Owen's sniggering started as he clung to her and imagined the chaos that might ensue.

"You, Ms Sato, are a naughty girl" he finally said as he kissed her and then sighed happily "so naughty.'

"So … adding lingerie and my size to Ianto's list is not too naughty?" she whispered, his laugher bouncing off the walls then he looked a her closely.

"You didn't."

"He asked if there was a colour preference too, didn't even pause to blink. So official about it, telling me he knew of a few stores then asking if I wanted matching for you" she giggled "Then I saw he was being a bugger and slapped his arm but he really had me going for a second. He has quite a sense of humour when he lets you in. He likes you, I am glad."

"Me too" Owen nodded then took her shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes, "Tosh … if things ever go bad… I mean … Gwen turns or something… the baby really is some monster born with teeth and a killer vibe to it … I mean… you will save me right?"

"Oh Owen" she slapped at him as he whimpered and clutched at her.

"But I need you!" he said in a silly whiney voice.

"Stop it, you call me naughty" she scolded as she giggled as well and he grinned, glad her melancholy mood she had when he had entered had now passed.

"I love you" he whispered into her hair then took off with horror , her delight beginning as she clutched her hands together and closed her eyes to savour and memorise the moment.

"I need you too Owen" she whispered to the quiet room with glee, "100%"


	5. Chapter 5

5

Andy was following him and he knew it, turning his head slightly to acknowledge him and then sitting to wait for him to move along the low wall of the veggie patch to sit with him. He waited for him to speak, then said "Getting carrots for tea, the wee bit loves them."

"Ya know… I've been her partner for near on three years" Andy went right into it and Rhys was relieved there wasn't going to be any beating around the bush, Andy a good fella he didn't want to have a weird feeling around him, "I've seen her do some pretty hairy things ya know. She would always say, "Don't tell Rhys for Godsake" and then laugh like it had been great fun."

Rhys found himself smiling as Andy described the Mad Mare he had fallen in love with so long again.

"We don't do secrets. I mean … sometimes when on a stakeout, or walking a beat we have nothing to do but talk. I know things I will never repeat, told her things I thought I would never say out loud." Andy seemed to struggle then said softly, "I love her. She's like a big ballsy sister and… I don't know what to do right now."

"Look, she's having one of her bloody brain farts and I've tried to explain it to the others and they are being good, trying to give her space to shake it off but … she is freaking them out a bit" Rhys sighed, "If it weren't for the baby we might be out on our ear."

Andy looked shocked as he looked at Rhys, "Surely not. I mean … these are stand up guys and for all his old glares and stiff upper lip carry on, I think Ianto wouldn't do that."

"No. Not him but… well… Suzie keeps looking like she is about to dig a hole if ya know what I mean" Rhys snorted.

"Yeah, but I get the impression from the eye rolling the Captain does that she naturally has a resting bitch face" Andy replied making Rhys smile.

"A baby, Christ mate" Rhys snorted as he rubbed at his face, "We never talked about kids ya know. Was still trying to sort out ourselves, shit. I've not even asked her to marry me, still undecided if we were going to make it, ya know?"

"Gwen can be…. Sometimes you don't want the shift to end its so much fun, other days I can't wait to get away from her. She's changeable. Something a bit volatile right now" Andy said softly with a kind pat to Rhys' leg, "I always forgive her nasty moments because I know that's not her. I know later she remembers what she said and feels like shit but her brain to mouth filter is broken and it all rolls out."

Rhys nodded, "Exactly. If she would just take a second before blurting things out."

"But then… then it wouldn't be her, would it mate" Andy rose and brushed of his pants, then waved as Ianto walked around the other patch with Mica who ran over and threw herself at him, then turned and cuddled into Rhys.

"It's cold water in the barrel Uncle" she whispered, cold little hands sliding inside his shirt to show him the water in the rain barrel had been cold and he yelped as he grabbed at her and then laughed, squeezing her and kissing her little face.

"You cheeky monkey" he fake scolded, kissing her gain and then rising, "Just in time. Smells like me cupcakes are almost done, come on. Help me get them out and we can talk icing."

"YES!" she punched the air and then ran for the back door as Ianto paused to look at the two men, his smile soft.

"Cupcakes? Spoiler" Ianto grinned, "Be sure to leave a couple un-iced for Crypto, way to his heart is with cake but he never did get the understanding of icing. Thinks we ruin them with sugar on the top."

"Really?" Rhys asked with interest, "What else does he like?"

"Well … you" Ianto's smile deepened, "He wants you to know that you will never be told to …. Really?"

Rhys and Andy turned to the garden where Ianto was staring at the path of dirt then saw the indented earth.

"Fuck" Rhys said softly, "He's there. Is he…."

"Invisible. Yeah, he can do that. Likes to sunbathe and hides so a certain little miss doesn't leap in his back and ride him like a sad dead pony" Ianto laughed, "He said… we will never tell you to jog on. You don't think we would ask you to leave do you? I mean … the way you cook you more than make up for her motor mouth. Besides, you never met me sister. Reminds me of her in that annoying nagging way."

There was a shimmer like heat rising and Crypto suddenly burst from thin air to leap between the men and calmly walk towards the house as Ianto laughed, "He says to hurry up before she gets them out herself."

"Fair play" Rhys said as he rushed inside and Andy looked back at the packed space of earth with interest.

He was just releasing that there was a spy in their ranks keeping track of everyone and for some reason he found that comforting.

Can't keep secrets then.

Right?


	6. Chapter 6

6

Ianto passed the little girl excitedly icing cupcakes with a mixture of coloured icing, three sitting to one side without any topping and Ianto knew Crypto would be pleased. He wandered out and across to the barn, entering to make meowing noises as he knelt, two little cats appearing to slink across the darkened floor to see what he had.

He opened the tin of cat food and scraped it onto their bowls and petted them, talking softly in Welsh as he promised it would be less scary when everyone stopped being arsehats.

"Do you think so?"

Ianto looked up at Gwen who was sitting up in the loft with her legs swinging over the side and she looked down at the cats with surprise, "Where did they come from?"

"Here all the time. Shy" Ianto replied, scooping out the last of the food and petting one before rising and stretching, "I think Mimi is too loud and they didn't like the interruptions. Lucifer doesn't care for them, would rather patrol his little patch of kingdom upstairs."

"Lucifer?"

"The cat in the house" Ianto canted his head, "I have a black cat that lives in my room. A typical cat with his nose in the air and a look if distain as we peasants annoy him."

She smiled, "I like cats. Always had one or two growing up. Me Daddy is allergic but still has one so I can d=cuddle it when zi visit. Mam tells …."

"I'm sorry" Ianto sighed a she watched her smile fade, her face crumbing as she thought of her partners, not gone in the London blast, "I lost me Mam when I was little, my alcoholic father was not much of a parental and Rhiannon sort of tried her best, being eight years older. More of the Mama really. Why the kids …. Why Mica is so special. I knew when I joined Torchwood that kids would be out of the question. Signing up for a secret government agency that hunts alien life usually means dying young. No sense getting too attached to the notion of a family, eh?"

Gwen frowned, "But you did love her."

"Lisa? Yes, yes I did. Probably as much as she loved my mate she was banging" Ianto laughed softly, settling to let a cat on his lap, "when she told me she was pregnant my first thought was that Yvonne was gonna kill us. Then the fear that I might have to actually leave and be a real person. You see Gwen, I liked being an operative because it wasn't real. All an act, like wearing a cool disguise, sneaking around being all … secretive. I'm not that exciting in real life. The real me is … scared and lonely and still that little boy clutching his dead Mam's ankles as she swings crying for her to stop it and get down from the noose. I still feel the cold of that cellar, still smell the dirt. I know what it is like to be afraid of your own company."

Gwen slithered to the ladder and clambered down to sit next to him and was rewarded with the other cat who was giving off a rusty purr, "I'm sorry that I'm being a bitch."

"I know, you can't seem to help it. Me sister was a lot like you. Mouthy, opinionated and not afraid to slap ya" Ianto sighed, "Why I keep hoping this can work out. Mica is my first thought, always my first thought. Mow Jack is my second. Nothing else, just them. I can't explain it but the moment she was born and I held her, me sister still bleeding and panting in the background on the kitchen floor I … she was mine. Even Rhiannon used to tell people she was just my surrogate. Mica …"

Ianto rose and the cats disappeared into the shadows again like the wraiths they can be, "Gwen, don't test people. I know you are trying to make space for yourself and feel pushed from all sides so you push back but if push came to shove you would wind up on your arse because baby or not … I will choose."

"I know" she said softly, accepting his hand to help her stand, "Ianto, I appreciate this. That you are talking to me … I feel… twisted up."

"Stop pulling at it, stop trying to unravel the feeling because it's like a wet cloth only bunching tighter with the friction. Try to let things o, try to just shake it off a bit, yeah?" Ianto whispered and she nodded, sighing as she let her hands slide over her stomach, "What are the percentages do ya think?"

"Honestly?" Ianto sighed, "Fifty-fifty right now. No baby… we will have an argument in there as some will vote for you to leave. If the baby is still alive … they will seethe because they know me and Jack will overrule everyone and let you stay…Gwen … we will anyway OK? Even if the baby is not viable, if Owen has to take it … I will not allow anyone to make you leave. I mean it but … cross me, endanger my child and you will never leave. That hole Susie is preparing in her mind will be filled, understand?"

"Yes" she nodded as she looked at him and saw for the first time how tall he was, taller and more imposing than she had realised. "You … you hide yourself."

"Yes" he said simply with a sorrowful smlie as he strode out into the light and left her pondering their talk.

Her hands rubbed some more as she prayed for the baby to be OK, so much riding on it.


	7. Chapter 7

7

Gwen was nervous but had insisted she was OK with everyone in the room, her eyes finding Ianto back by the door with his arms folded as he leaned against the doorframe. Like his sister he said. She focused on that, the thin hope that maybe one day he would like her, maybe one day she would hold him as a sister might in times of laughter or tears. She focused in his soft grey eyes as Owen muttered and worked the scanner.

"Come on" Rhys exploded after a while then cleared his throat "Shit, sorry mate, so nervous I am shitting bricks the size of small VWs"

Sniggering now as everyone admitted tension then Owen got it to work and shakily swung over her with a look of fierce concentration.

Gwen watched Ianto's' face as his eyes flicked to the screen then back to her. No change, no movement other than that, not reaction… then he smiled and she let out her breath, a sob as she knew and she turned her head to look at the screen, her little baby's heart thumping away like a little belter.

"Right, look at that" Owen smiled, "We have a heartbeat so it's…wanna know the sex?"

"You can tell?" Gwen gasped.

"Yep. Pretty hard not to see … I mean … unless you have a secret in your family of three legged women I don't know about" Owen quipped and Rhys called out with shock.

"A … a boy? A boy? Holy shit, is it a boy?" he spluttered as everyone laughed softly, relieved to see the life was strong.

"Yep, congrats" Owen muttered, now sitting back to fuddle with the scanner and frown at it then look up at Jack, "Bigger than the last one."

Jack finally moved, his hand on his hip moving away and the coat fell over the Webley in the same motion so it wasn't obvious he had been sanding with his hand on the butt of it. He nodded and smiled down at her, "Congratulations."

"Can I see?" a little voice implored and Mica squeezed in to look, her eyes wide as she stared at the screen, "What's that?"

"My baby" Gwen sobbed, "see? That is his little heart beating. You know, like the lovely heartbeat you hear when you put your ear to your uncle's chest? That's what one looks like."

"wow" Mica peered at it some more, "Cool. So … it's OK?"

"He" Owen said as he looked at her and smiled, "It's a little boy baby growing in Gwen's tummy."

"How did it get here?" she asked in her sing-song voce as she looked up at Rhys with those wide blue eyes and he squirmed with horror.

"Mica" Ianto said then he started to snigger softly, "Stop it. We already talked about how the baby was made you little mare. Stop it, you know you are being a beast."

She grinned as she laughed, "I know. But it's all so icky."

"Why only Grups do it" Ianto said calmly as he held out his hand, "Too gross for little ones."

"Yeah" she agreed as she passed Gwen and leaned in to her face, "I'm glad he's OK. Uncle was so worried and scared for you. I wasn't though. Crypto said he was alive."

Then she was gone, led away by her uncle and Gwen blinked at the space her little face had occupied then looked at Rhys, "You know … she's a bit scary."

"Yeah, got a lot of her uncle in her" Rhys grinned, "Wonder who this one will take after? Shit, I hope he's not got your mouth."

The laugher echoed around the house as she screamed at him and in the kitchen Ianto looked at the room, his fingers carded in Crypto's fair as he scratched his face and then he looked back to his friend as they silently communed and agreed this was good.

A good thing.

For now.

.

.

.

.

OK, next is the snatch 'n grab missions.


End file.
